Worth it to stay in Monorail Resort?

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Mouseketeer

Yes, it is definitely worth it! Especially if your husband's meetings will be at one of the monorail resorts.
When I traveled solo with young kids, we always stayed at GF (has best room discount out of the three Monorail resorts, I swear). When we tag along for DH's convention, we just stay at whichever resort the convention is held at.

Earning My Ears

Ah, would love to hear more about Poly with children! Taking first trip in April with two young kids. How’s the security line for monorail and the kid convenience aspect in general? Apologies if too OT, feel free to message me if that’s more approved!

DIS Veteran

Earning My Ears

We had a bad experience in July at poly. Monorail was down often & busses were packed. I wouldn’t choose Contemporary. We had stayed a poly many times before had a bad experience the last trip. For this trip, we decided to stay at pop & take Minnie vans most of the time.

Mouseketeer

Ah, would love to hear more about Poly with children! Taking first trip in April with two young kids. How’s the security line for monorail and the kid convenience aspect in general? Apologies if too OT, feel free to message me if that’s more approved!

We took our first trip to the Poly when our daughter was 5, I think, and it was awesome! The pool area is great for her (it's probably her favorite pool area, even more than Stormalong Bay...but, to be fair, it was very cold when she visited SAB). Generally, we had a very short wait to get through security at the monorail before boarding and we loved that we were already screened once we got off at MK and could avoid those lines. They have activities daily at the pool (at least they do during the summer, which is when we stay there) and you really can't beat being able to watch the fireworks from the beach of the hotel without the added stress of crazy crowds. We've always found the transportation easy (minus the buses back from AK) and convenient to take midday naps and swim breaks. Hands down, it's our favorite resort at WDW. I know people love the Beach Club but it doesn't compare, for us, to staying at the Poly.

Collect memories, not things

If you can swing it the Contemporary would be a great choice. Sometimes the monorail isn't always running but you can always depend on your feet to get you back to the Contemporary. This is why we love the Epcot resorts. Walking to two parks is amazing.

We did the Poly before and I was underwhelmed by it. We much prefer the Epcot area resorts (BC followed by BW).

If your trip is far enough ahead I would look at renting DVC points at BLT.

DIS Veteran

I’ve seen ppl on this board complain about the same thing. The biggest issue for me was that we specifically stayed there to make transportation easier with a stroller so although they offered other modes of transportation, it was very frustrating. One day it took us longer to get to MK from Poly than it did relatives coming from Pop which is absolutely ridiculous.

Mouseketeer

Ah, would love to hear more about Poly with children! Taking first trip in April with two young kids. How’s the security line for monorail and the kid convenience aspect in general? Apologies if too OT, feel free to message me if that’s more approved!

We never had to wait very long to go through security at the monorail. We utilized the boat several times as well. You go through security after you get off the boat at MK, but it has its own separate security line, if that makes sense. So it was much quicker. We never had any issues with the monorail breaking down, although I'm sure it happens. We also took the monorail to EPCOT. We still had to go through security when we got there, but I think they've since fixed that issue.

Overall, we absolutely loved the Poly. We normally stay at POR, which we love, too. As a resort it is great! But the transportation at Poly was so much better. Kids loved the pool. The splash pad area is great for little ones! We stayed club level, so we didn't really utilize the food court. I think my dad took the kids one night when he babysat, but that's it. If the kids like Stitch, the character breakfast there is fun. We had done it before and the kids wanted to do it again, so it was nice to be on-property. I think when our kids are older I would like to try Beach Club and be close to EPCOT since that's my and my H's favorite park. But if you're spending a lot of time at MK I think Poly can't be beat!

Earning My Ears

I’ve seen ppl on this board complain about the same thing. The biggest issue for me was that we specifically stayed there to make transportation easier with a stroller so although they offered other modes of transportation, it was very frustrating. One day it took us longer to get to MK from Poly than it did relatives coming from Pop which is absolutely ridiculous.

Oh no! I had no idea. Will search for more info. I was torn between Poly and Contemporary and ended up with the Poly so I’m hoping i didn’t muck up too badly. We are big walkers though, so Contemporary would’ve been very convenient. Hmm.

Mouseketeer

Oh no! I had no idea. Will search for more info. I was torn between Poly and Contemporary and ended up with the Poly so I’m hoping i didn’t muck up too badly. We are big walkers though, so Contemporary would’ve been very convenient. Hmm.

We've never encountered those issues and have spent a few trips at the Poly. I think you will more than likely be fine and will have a wonderful time! I'm jealous that we're not visiting WDW this summer to be able to stay at the Poly again (but we're going to Disneyland, so there's that).

DIS Veteran

Oh no! I had no idea. Will search for more info. I was torn between Poly and Contemporary and ended up with the Poly so I’m hoping i didn’t muck up too badly. We are big walkers though, so Contemporary would’ve been very convenient. Hmm.

We did have a couple of long lines at the poly. Certainly longer than when staying at GF. I can't speak to the lines at the monorail for contemporary, because when heading to MK I always walked and I didn't spend much time at Epcot that trip. I found walking very convenient, however, the kids water play area at the poly is amazing so if you plan on some pool time it still may be the right choice.

Earning My Ears

Hi all,
Traveling to WDW with my kids, ages 2 and 4. Husband will be in meetings for 3 of our 4.5 park days, so I'll be mostly navigating the parks (MK, AK, and Epcot) solo with the kids. I've done this once before, and while it was manageable, transportation was one of the hardest parts. I found the Magic Express buses to be slow, unreliable, and a big hassle with the double stroller. And it was stressful both trying to get out the door in the morning and returning to the hotel in the evening to make the shuttle on time. (We were staying in Bonnet Creek at a good neighbor hotel, which was otherwise great.) Trying to streamline a bit this trip. Staying right on the Monorail seems really appealing, but it would obviously add significantly to the cost of the trip. Is it worth the expense? Or would I be just as well served to stay elsewhere and rideshare to the parks?
Expensewise, staying elsewhere and using rideshare to get around mostly leaves me ahead. But I have visions of popping back to the hotel after dinner in the parks, putting my 2yo to bed and leaving him with my husband, then zipping back with my 4yo in his jammies to MK/Epcot to catch the fireworks before he goes to bed.
So. Monorail resort with small children. I'd love your thoughts!

we are taking our first trip with our daughter when she is 14.5 months old (trip isn’t for 7 months) and we chose to spend the extra to stay at contemporary. I think it will make naps easier cause it will be easy to go from MK and walk back to resort and even EPCOT will be easier cause we can keep her in stroller when traveling back. I figure we will be at MK the most this trip so it was worth it.

That being said, i’m planning a solo trip with my daughter when she is 21 months old and plan to stay at a value hotel to save on costs. I’m super nervous about handling her and the stroller on the busses by myself.

so, I think either way can be done but I think staying on a monorail resort, if you can afford it, just makes things easier and takes away some of the stress of managing kids and strollers on your own with transportation.

Mouseketeer

I agree with the majority: if you can afford it, it is worth it. Our first trip (two 5-year-olds and me), the hardest part of the whole trip was waiting for transportation and the long rides to and from the parks. Last time (two 6-year-olds and me), we stayed at Contemporary, and it was amazing: walking from our room to tapping into MK took less than 15 minutes and was entirely on our own schedule. Walking back was just as quick when we had the energy, as was the monorail when we were too tired to walk back.

Mouseketeer

We booked Contemporary for our upcoming trip 100% based on location. 5 kids in our group. To be able to walk back on MK nights, will be worth it. Also MK is usually open the latest, so we'll probably end most days there and be able to repeatedly take advantage of the location.

We plan to spend most of our time in the parks, so the hotel theming isn't important.

Mouseketeer

We stayed Contemporary our first trip and it was amazing walking to MK and being able to push the stroller back at night. Other parks are not as easy to get to though. They suffer the same Disney Bus transportation issues. That being said, if it is within budget I would recommend it. We generally try to stay at a location where we can walk to one park. If you had said you wanted HS I would have recommended Yacht Club because of 2 parks.

Agree with this! We stayed at the Poly a few months ago and it's great for MK, but it's really not great for anything else. We will probably stick with Yacht Club going forward -- you can walk to Epcot and HS (or Skyliner).

Mouseketeer

We stayed at the Contemporary during Thanksgiving the year before last for this reason. Because it was high crowds, the wait for the monorail was always 20+ min. This was a short trip post-cruise, just two park days and we just did MK. I’ve also done a trip where the monorail went down and it took us over an hour to get from the TTC to MK

We were in the garden wing and a bonus for us we landed a first floor room. We just walked the stroller out of the room and back.

Was it worth it? Absolutely. I’m not sure it would have been worth the extra expense if we were spending much time at the other parks. At best we might have done a split stay.

Earning My Ears

This is all fantastic information. Thank you all! I like to keep trip costs down as much as is reasonable, but I'm all for spending on convenience, especially with kids. I'm not hearing from anybody who regretted it, so that's great!

I'll share a note about rideshare though, since a few of you also mentioned it. The Minnie Vans are great, and we used a few last year, but you can order regular Lyft or Uber with a carseat too. You'll pay a bit of a premium for the carseat, but it's still less than the Minnie Vans, and works just as well. I think at MK they can drive closer up to the gate than the regular rideshare, but that was the only time I saw any real benefit to MV over regular Lyft or Uber. And during peak times when the Minnie Vans are all spoken for, it can be a lot easier to snag one. Also, in my experience, most of the Lyfts and Ubers that offer carseats have both a booster and a convertible seat, so both my kids could ride safely (my 4yo technically meets the specs for a booster, although he is still in a convertible at home). This time, I'll probably bring a mi-fold with me just in case. Even if we stay on the monorail loop, we're still going to have to make it down to AK and HS (at the break of dawn for ROR groups) somehow, so I know we'll be using rideshare a bit.

DIS Veteran

We stayed at BLT last year with a 2yo and 7mo. The convenience factor is immeasurable. Rope dropping MK was quick and easy, we had our own security checkpoint with no lines, and we didn’t have to deal with overstuffed monorails after the fireworks. And you never have to fold up the stroller